Girls Invent Tomorrow’s nationwide roadshow aims to educate high school girls about jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

There has been much focus on the alarmingly low number of professionals embarking on careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) landscape of careers. There are many studies that prove that there is a dire need for women to enter this field of work.

Many government bodies and organisations are findings ways to address this skills shortage, but are their efforts reaching a level of success?

Girls Invent Tomorrow embarked on a nationwide roadshow a year ago with the aim of educating young high school girls about the job opportunities that exist in the Stem landscape of careers. The initiative was conceptualised in order to encourage, educate and empower girls to consider jobs in the relevant Stem industries.

The project has had various sponsors along the way, including the likes of Intel, HP and Microsoft.

“The main challenge I think many organisations face is ascertaining whether or not these efforts have had an impact,” said Thuli Sibeko, founder of Girls Invent Tomorrow.

“All students we have engaged with have been scholars in high school, scholars who are at the stage of choosing subjects for their last three years of school.”

Stem futureThis is where the impact needs to be made, states Sibeko, getting to the girls before they decide on subjects is crucial as it is here that they decide on maths, science and technology subjects.

With the choice needed at a school level, the only way to encourage this change is to engage with girls face-to-face. Presenting them with other young pioneering thought leaders in Stem careers, showing them the “cool” in the geeky misunderstood professions, is key to changing their mind sets.

Stem education is vital to ensuring the long-term viability and wellbeing of South African technological and scientific advancement, as well as for providing a new generation of well-qualified engineers, technicians and scientists who can improve upon the achievements of the current generation.

“It is time to take action, we have now educated hundreds of girls across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and now lastly Cape Town about the benefits of a Stem career. Our next task is to bring the cool geek out in each of them, by providing access to skills development sessions such as coding workshops, app development skills and access to role models in their interested fields, all in the hope that it will inspire change, and start to boost the number of women pursuing Stem careers,” said Sibeko. – Gadget.co.za

Girls Invent Tomorrow have started a nationwide roadshow in order to educate high school girls about the cool job opportunities that exist in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) landscape, which is often misunderstood as “geekly”.

The world at large seems to be very focused on the alarming number of professionals embarking on careers in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) landscape of careers. There are many studies which prove that there is a dire need for women to enter this field of work.

Many government bodies and organisations are findings ways to address this skills shortage, but are their efforts reaching a level of success?

Girls Invent Tomorrow embarked on a nationwide roadshow a year ago, with the aim to educate young high school girls about the job opportunities which exist in the STEM landscape of careers. This initiative was conceptualised in order to encourage, educate and empower these girls to consider jobs in the relevant STEM industries.

The initiative has had various sponsors along the way, sponsors which have included the likes of Intel, HP and Microsoft to name a few. Organisations that value the partnerships of doers, finding a way to impact the masses one outreach at a time.

“The main challenge I think many organisations face, is ascertaining whether or not these efforts have had an impact, “says Thuli Sibeko Founder of Girls Invent Tomorrow. “All students we have engaged with have been scholars in high school, scholars who are at the stage of choosing subjects for their last 3 years of school. ”

This is where the impact needs to be made, states Sibeko, getting to the girls before they decide on subjects is crucial as it is here that they decide on maths, science and technology subjects.

With the choice needed at a school level and the only way to encourage this change is to engage with girls face-to-face. Presenting them with other young pioneering thought leaders, even role models if you like, in STEM careers; showing them the “cool” in the geekly misunderstood professions.

STEM education is vital to ensuring the long-term viability and well-being of South African technological and scientific advancement, as well as for providing a new generation of well-qualified engineers, technicians and scientists who can improve upon the achievements of the current generation of engineers, scientists, innovators and developers.

“It is time to take action, we have now educated hundreds of girls across Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal and now lastly Cape Town, about the benefits of a STEM career. Our next task is to bring the cool geek out in each of them, by providing access to skills development sessions such as coding workshops, app development skills and access to role models in their interested fields, all in hope that it will inspire change, and start to boost the number of women pursuing STEM careers, ” concludes Sibeko.

There is still a yawning ‘gender divide’ in the number of women using technology and pursuing IT careers in South Africa.

The organisation ‘Girls Invent Tomorrow’ aims to change this. The U.N. has declared 11 October as ‘International Day of the Girl Child.’

At this event today more than 100 young high school learners arrived eager for knowledge.

Thuli Sibeko founder of ‘Girls Invent Tomorrow’ said it was vital to empower girl learners. ICT is one of the best areas to get into for South African girls.

For one of the key sponsors of the event Intel, gender equality is an issue close to its heart. It has launched Girl Rising a social action campaign to educate and empower women and it also launched She Will Connect aimed at reducing the gender and technology gap around the world.

We are more than half-way through the year of Code. The world around us is talking ever so much more about teaching the youth how to read and write in the language of the machine.

Many organisations across the world have joined the banter of the wires to educate us about the importance of being able to write code. Local organisations such as MLab, RLabs, ThoughtWorks and Girls Invent Tomorrow are hosting coding workshops with the youth to bring this skill one step closer to realisation.

The question we have to ask is: are we as non-profit organisations successfully able to reach the masses, alone? Should school curriculums not be changed to include coding development amongst youth? Boys and girls alike should be taught these skills from a young age. The ability to code is the ability to read and write a machine language as well as to think computationally. Learning to code can lead to outputs valuable in and of themselves, but the process of learning to code also develops problem-solving skills, (digital) confidence, and helps young people understand the world around them. In many respects, we should encourage kids to code for similar reasons to those we give for encouraging them to play sports and learn an instrument: it’s good for their development.

For this reason alone, should government and educators not consider the inclusion of these skill-sets into schools? We live in an era where being digital is second nature, yet we are not equipping the youth with the skills to properly succeed in an ever-changing global working environment.

We are seeing the shift globally, I recall a recent article posted on PC Pro, where it was stated that British students are already set to learn how to code from next school year (starting September 2014). The aim of having this inclusion brought into the curriculum is to get more students trying their hand at programming, and to convince non-coders that it isn’t as difficult as it may first look.

Local non-profits, such as ours, should be empowered by local government to bring coding workshops to the masses, while educational institutions embark on the same within their confines.

Coding might seem trivial to some, but the basic principles which go hand in hand with this skill empowers minds and allows for innovative thinking. Is this not the type of future leaders we want in the country? Do we not aim to have the next Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates born from the loins of Africa?

The world at large seems to be very focused on the number of professionals embarking on careers in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). There are many studies which prove that there is a dire need for women to enter this field of work.

Many government bodies and organisations are findings ways to address this skills shortage, but are their efforts reaching a level of success?

Girls Invent Tomorrow embarked on a nationwide road show a year ago, with the aim to educate young high school girls about the job opportunities which exist in the STEM landscape of careers. This initiative was conceptualised in order to encourage, educate and empower these girls to consider jobs in the relevant STEM industries.

The initiative has had various sponsors along the way, sponsors which have included the likes of Intel, HP and Microsoft to name a few. Organisations that value the partnerships of doers, finding a way to impact the masses one outreach at a time.

“The main challenge I think many organisations face, is ascertaining whether or not these efforts have had an impact,” says Thuli Sibeko Founder of Girls Invent Tomorrow. “All students we have engaged with have been scholars in high school, scholars who are at the stage of choosing subjects for their last 3 years of school. ”

This is where the impact needs to be made, states Sibeko, getting to the girls before they decide on subjects is crucial as it is here that they decide on maths, science and technology subjects.

With the choice needed at a school level and the only way to encourage this change is to engage with girls face-to-face. Presenting them with other young pioneering thought leaders, even role models if you like, in STEM careers; showing them the “cool” in the geeky misunderstood professions.

STEM education is vital to ensuring the long-term viability and well-being of South African technological and scientific advancement, as well as for providing a new generation of well-qualified engineers, technicians and scientists who can improve upon the achievements of the current generation of engineers, scientists, innovators and developers.

“It is time to take action, we have now educated hundreds of girls across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and now lastly Cape Town, about the benefits of a STEM career.

“Our next task is to bring the cool geek out in each of them, by providing access to skills development sessions such as coding workshops, app development skills and access to role models in their interested fields, all in hope that it will inspire change, and start to boost the number of women pursuing STEM careers,” Sibeko says.